Trojans steal win from Blue Devils in district opener
SAULT STE. MARIE – The Sault Blue Devils were so close to beating Traverse City Central on Monday night in the opening round of the district tournament, the excitement in the gym was almost palpable.
The Sault held a 57-50 lead with 1:40 left to play after Kaydin Lujan sank a pair of free throws, and then everything went sideways. What was supposed to be a court-storming moment turned into heartbreak and disbelief as the Trojans went on an 8-0 run to steal a 58-57 win.
Trojan scoring ace Anthony Ribel pulled up from well beyond the top of the key and knocked down a triple at the 1:25 mark, despite having Sault defender Nathan Koepp’s hand directly in his face.
The Sault had opportunities to salt the game away as they visited the free throw line three times in the final 1:12, but missed the front end of a one-and-one situation all three times.
J.J. Dutmers buried a corner three to cut the Sault lead to one with 28 seconds left, 57-56, but then the dagger struck. Ribel picked up a loose ball after Max Scott had it stripped away after taking the inbounds pass, and laid it in for the go-ahead score with 21.4 seconds left.
The Sault had one last opportunity to win it, but Koepp’s turn-around jumper fell just short.
“I thought we played extremely hard,” Sault coach Mike Fitzner said. “We competed and we went bucket for bucket with them. We just came up one short.”
The Sault looked as though it might be in trouble in the first quarter as the Trojans held a 12-4 lead after Ribel knocked down a triple and then threw down a dunk on a break-away.
The Devils came out determined in the second period however, and started the scoring on a Scott long-ball to make it 12-7. Easton Fitzner gave the Saul a spark when he canned a three and hit a floater in the lane in a one-minute span to pull the Devils to within 17-16.
Lujan was a beast in the second quarter as he hit a layup, then blocked a Trojan shot and got rewarded with a fast-break layup. The Sault took its first lead of the game at the 1:28 mark of the second period as Koepp snaked in a layup for a 22-21 advantage. John Gravelle hit a layup to put the Sault up 24-23 and was fouled. He missed the free throw, but Lujan struck again snatching the offensive rebound and putting it back up for a layup and an and-one chance, which he converted, putting the Sault up 27-23 heading into the break.
“This was definitely a step in the right direction for our program,” Fitzner said after the game. “Guys like Dominic, Carter, and Max laid the foundation and showed the rest of the guys the way. Our team put in a lot of time into the offseason and we had good results from that.”
The Sault finished the season with a 15-8 mark and won the Straits Area Conference, going undefeated in league play.
Ribel led the Trojans with 24 points, and like most big-time players, put up his best numbers in the fourth quarter, hitting for 10 points in the final eight minutes.
“We kind of played defense by committee on him,” Fitzner said of Ribel. “Carter took it upon himself this year to be that defensive stopper. He’s good with his footwork and really worked at how to deny guys’ strengths when he played them. Max, Nate, and even Kaydin all played him tough though when they had their chances. He got his points, but we only gave up one really open look to him. He worked for everything he got tonight.”
Miles Smith and Dutmers were also in double figures with 13 apiece.
For the Sault, Koepp led the way with 14 points, and Lujan added 13. Scott and Joe Gravelle finished with eight points each.
TC CENTRAL 12 11 18 17 – 58
SAULT 4 23 16 14 - 57
TC CENTRAL – Miller 6, Smith 13, Dutmers 13, Clark 2, Ribel 24. FT: 14-18; F: 14; Fouled out: None; 3PFG: 8 (Ribel 4, Dutmers 2, Smith 2).
SAULT – Oshelski 3, Scott 8, Koepp 14, Fitzner 7, Lujan 13, John Gravelle 4, Joe Gravelle 8. FT: 7-13; F: 10; Fouled out: None; 3PFG: 3 (Scott 2, Oshelski 1).
This article originally appeared on The Sault News: Trojans steal win from Blue Devils in district opener
